THIS is a game in which the visitors adapted to the wet conditions better than the home team.

In a closely-contested battle of attrition, Heaton Moor came up trumps and thoroughly deserved their victory.

Southport struggled to impose themselves territorially and the visitors controlled most of the game through their fly-half, who constantly drove the home team back with some well-drilled kicking.

Heaton’s full-back also played a major role in keeping them on the front foot by not allowing Southport to gain advantage in their opponents’ 22 metre area, using his obvious experience to repel any such attempt.

Heaton took the lead in the 16th minute and never relinquished the advantage, Southport’s only points coming from the boot of Swinson, who was unfortunate with another couple of attempts that would have reduced the gap.

Southport’s pack was sluggish around the breakdown and quality possession was a rare commodity. To their credit, the home team never gave up and Henry Brain, playing at number 8, continued to prompt the home pack all afternoon, ably supported by Dave Gairn and Mike Tobin.

It was only in the final few minutes that Heaton consolidated their victory and left Southport to ponder where they went wrong.